Means for applying power to side-wheel vessels



Dec. 28

C. E. WARD MEANS FOR APPLYING POWER TO SIDE] WHEEL VESSELS Fild June 24,19 S-Sheets-Sheet Dec. 28 1926.

C. E. WARD MEANS FOR APPLYING POWER TO SIDL WEBB? V5353 F'iled June 4,1926 I llllll M Patented Dec. 28, 1926.

lJNiTE. STATES CHARLE$ E. VTARD, OF CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA.

MEANS FGR, APPLYING POEVEB TO SIDE-WHEEL VESSELS.

Application filed June 24, 1826.

This invention relates to a means for applying power from high speedengines to the paddles of side wheel boats, and has for its object toprovide a mechanism which will be simple in construction, certain inoperation, and more eliicient in use than those heretofore proposed.

lVit-h these and other objects in view, the invention consists in tnenovel details of construction and combinations of parts more fullyhereinafter disclosed and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings forming a part of thisspecification, in which like numerals designate like parts i all theviews:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic longitudinal sectional View of a portion of aside wheel boat with my invention applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a sectional plan View of the parts shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic View illustrating the application of power tothe large gear wheel, showing the power cranks at right angles to eachother;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a slightly modi fied form of the inventionwherein bevel gears are used in the place of the planetary gearing shownin Figs. 1. and 2;

Fig. 5 is a side elevational view of the parts shown in Fig. 4;

6 is a transverse sectional View taken on the line 66 of 5 and lookingin the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 7 is a detail perspective view of a bearing for the paddle wheelshaft; and

Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic side view of the construction shown in Figs. 4to 6 illustrating the means of supporting the outboard bearing for thepaddle wheel.

As is well known, it is very desirable in driving the paddle wheels ofside wheel vessels, to maintain a steady propulsive effort on thepaddles at all times; to this end it has been found advantageous toemploy more than one engine, and further, it is very desirable to soconnect the engine power with the paddle wheels, that the engines cannotstop on a dead center. The employment of high speed engines of course isto be desired, and therefore it is most essential that the driveconnect-ions be so constructed and arranged as to give full bearingcontact between the gears, and a balanced drive with a minimum ofmechanical trouble.

Referring mere particularly to Figs. 1, 2

Serial No. 1 18,252.

and 3, the numeral 1 indicates any suitable frame work supporting a deckor base 14, 2 a shaft on which the paddle wheel 3 is rigidly mounted, alarge planetary drive gear 1 with the shaft 2, 5 a small planeti drivinggear meshing with the larger drive gear 4 on one side thereof, and 6another-small planetary driving gear meshing with the said large gear 4on the other side thereof. That is to say, the driving pinions 5 and 6are on opposite sides of the vertical plane of the axis of the wheelshaft- 2, but it is to be understood that they may be eitherdiametrically opposed or relatively closely spaced. Further, it iswithin the scope of this invention to have the three gears 4, 5 and 6all within the same plane, or the plane of each pinion may be inclinedto the plane of the main drive gear 4, according to the position of theengines and their connecting parts. The small gears 5 and 6 are mountedon the shafts 7 and 17 respectively journalled in suitable bearings 8and 18 respectively carried by the supports or engine beds 9 and 19 onwhich the high speed engines 10 and 11 respectively are mounted. t

The engine 10 is connected to the shaft 7 of the small gear 5 by meansof the crank 2 while the engine 11 is connected to the shaft 17 of thesmall gear 6 by means of the crank 18. The cranks 12 and 13 are placedat an angle to each other, so that it is not possible while both enginesare run ning, for either to get on a dead center.

By thus dividing the work delivered to the large gear 4 and applying itat two or more points, as indicated, on the circumference of said gear4, one is enabled to obtain the advantage of more uniformly appliedpower, and therefore one is enabled to employ lighter gear wheels,higher speed engines, and more economical engines than could be used ifthe power were all transmitted through one small pinion or gear wheel.

Of course, the engines could be of any suitable type, and could beeither horizontal or vertical as desired. Further, the gear ratio is sochosen that the engine cranks will always remain at an angle to eachother, and therefore, it will not be possible for them to get on a deadcenter. It is to be understood that each or all of the paddle wheels ofthe vessel will be equipped with the driv ieehanism above disclosed;

lleferring more particularly to 4. illustrating a modification of thedrive mechanism described above, it will be seen that the paddle wheel20 is mounted on a shaft 21 the outer end of which rotates in a suitablebearing 22 rigidly secured to the wheebbczun or outboard framing 23which may be of channel iron or any other suitable strong and well knownconstruction. Each paddle wheel rotates in the be); or recess 2stprovided therefor all as will be readily understood. The inboard end ofthe wheel shaft 21, see Figs. d. 5 and 6, is mounted for rotation in abearing generally indicated by the numeral 26 and conunisin; an upperhalf 27 and a lower half so constructed that when said halves are puttogether there will be disposed on either Si-(lt of said been ing atrunnion 29. The. is to say, each trunnion is halved as is particularlyillustrated in Fig.1". 7. Each trln'inion 29 is adapted to be supportedby a bracket 30 secured to a suitable base. as the deck 31, by the bolts32. \Vith particular reference to Fig. 6 it will be noticed that thebearing); for each trunnion is split, and that the line of the split isobliquely disposed to the line of separation between the two halves ofthe trunnion. The purpose of this will be evident, but may be stated asbeing to prevent undue wearing of the trunnion or its associated bracketupon any rotation of the trunnion 2?) in said bracket.

To prevent a longitudinal movement: of

the wheel shaft 21 in an outboard direction;

there is rigidly secured to' the inboard end of shaft shaft :1 suitablethrust collar provided with a ball race 36, said collar adapted to takeagainst the inboard side of the bearing 26 for said shaft. To preventinboard longitudinal movcment of said shaft, there is rigidly securedthereto a large bevel drive gear 4-0 adapted to mesh with a beveldriving pinion 4-1 on one side thereof. and a bevel driving pinion e2diametrically opposed to the pinion ll. That is to say. the drivingpinion .1 is rigidly mounted on an intern'iediate driving shaft 45, theends of which are SllplJOl'tGtl in the bearings 46 and 4 said bearingsbeing so located on the deck 31 that the shaft is disposed at rightangles to the wheel shaft 21. It is further an important feature of thisinvention that said shaft is disposed coaxially with reference to thetrunnions 29 of the bearing 26 supporting the inboard end of said wheelshaft 21. The parts are of such size and so disposed as to allow thedriven bevel gear 40 to just clear the said bearing 26 for the wheelshaft 21, and the deck 31 is cut away as at 50 in order that the drivengear 40 may efficiently function.

Adjacent the bearing bracket 47 there is rigidly mounted on theintermediate drive shaft 45 a planetary gear adapted to ent Q Do meshwith a planetary driving pinion rigidly mounted on a main drive shaft(driven from any suitable SUUTCQ of power not shown) mounted in suitablebearings such as 5% and disposed on either side of the pinion 52, saidbearings supporter. by the deck 31.

Thus it will be seen from the foregoing, and "ith particular referenceto l, that the power applied to the shaft 53 to rotate the same in thedirection of the arrow will, 'hrough the planetary gears and cause theintermediate shaft lli to rotate in the direction indicated, which inturn will to tate the bevel gears 41 and 40 to cause the wheel shaft tobe revolved in the direction indicated by the arrow thereon.

On the other 'ide of the drivin ear alt) G if? is disposed the beveldrive pinion d2 similar in all respects to the drive pinion t1 andrigidly mounted on an intermediate drive shaft whose ends are mountedfor rotation in V the brackets 61 and This intermediate shaft (it)likewise carries a rigidly mounted planetary gear 63 enmeshing with adriving pinion S-l rigidly mounted on a drive shaft 65 driven from asuitable source of power not shown) mounted in the brackets 66 and ti?as clearly illustrated in Fig. 'l he parts 42. 6Q, (23, (it and 65 arepreferably duplirates of the corresponding parts ll, 45, 51,

and 53 although variations are permissi-- ble as necessitated by theconstruction of the vesse The bearing brackets 61, G2, 66 and 7 arelikewise all carried by the deck 31, exactly as were the bearingbrackets associated with the diametrically disposed drive mechanismdescribed above. If desired an additional bearing bracket 70 may beprovided for the intermediate drive shaft 4-5 adjacent the bevel drivepinion 4:1 and an extra bearing; bracket 71 may be provided for theintermediate shaft 60 adjacent the other bevel drive pinion Theintermediate drive shaft 0 is likewise positioned rectangularly to thewheel shaft 21, and so mounted that it, too, is coaxial with thetrunnions 9.9 of the wheel shaft bracket 26. The intermediate driveshafts-il5 and 41.6.and the trunnions 29 are all in coaxial alignment f0a purpose that will iircsently appear. Said intermediate shafts being inalignment, the bevel pinion gears 41 and 4-2 carried thereby willlikewise be in alignment, with the result that the driven gear 40 on theshaft 21 will be in mesh with both of said bevel drive pinions 41 and 42when mounted as shown in the illustrations.

Therefore it is obvious from the foregoing that the driven gear 40,rigid with the shaft 21, will prevent. said shaft from axial movement inan inboard direction by its enmeshnrent with the bevel drive pinions L1and 42, and that the thrust bearing 35 also rigid with the shaft :21will prevent an axial movement of said shaft in an outboard di Ullrection. The result therefore is that the paddle wheel 20 will bemaintained in its correct position at all times in the box or recessedportion 24 provided for said wheel.

The wheel beam or outboard framing 23, as stated above, may be ofchannel iron or any construction affording great rigidity and strength,but with particular reference to Fig. 8, it is to be understood thatsaid outboardframing is to be maintained in rigid relationship with themain framing of the vessel. To accomplish this result, any suit ableconstruction may be utilized, such for example as a main stay 7 5 theupper end of which is rigidly secured to an upper framing member 76 ofthe vessel, and the lower end of which is rigidly secured to the wheelbeam 23. A similar stay 77 provided below the wheel beam has one endthereof secured to said beam and the other end rigidly secured to anysuitable framing member of the hull 7 8 of the vessel. Thus it will beseen that the wheel beam 23 is strengthened to resist the strains placedthereon during navigation, with the result that the outboard end of thewheel shaft 21 would normally be prevented from vertical movement.

- The main advantage obtained by this type of construction over theprior constructions will be obvious, but it might be generally stated asbeing to positively transmit power to the wheel shaft .so long as theengine operates. That is to say, with this construction any displacementof the outboard framing 23 in a vertical direction, will cause the wheelshaft 21 to oscillate about a center lying in the common axis of thetrunnions 29 of the wheel shaft bearing 26 and the intermediate driveshafts and 60. But it is to be observed that such a movement of thewheel shaft 21, will not unmesh the driven gear 40 from its drivingpinions 41 and 42, but on the other hand, will merely cause the formerto move bodily around the latter. Stated in other words, the bearingsfor the wheel shaft are always in alignment regardless of any verticalmovement of the outboard end thereof, for the reason that the inboardbearing is supported by the trunnions 29.

Another great advantage obtained by this improved construction is thatthe thrust collar 35, and the large drive gear 40 are so disposed toeither side of the bearing 26 for the wheel shaft 21 that axial movementof the said wheel shaft is prevented. In other words, the main drivegear 40 is maintained in mesh with the driving pinions 41 and 42 by thesingle thrust collar 35, thus obviating the necessity of a plurality ofthrust collars adjacent one of the shaft bearings or a thrust collar ateach end of the wheel shaft.

Another advantage obtained by this construction lies in the fact thatthere is provided a balanced drive mechanism. That is to say, by havinga driving pinion on either side of the center of the main drive gear, amore even transmission of power is obtained and the usual strains instarting and stop ping are reduced to a minimum. Also, by providingdouble drives, the strains of each driving mechanism, as well as thetotal strain on the main drive gear 20, will be reduced approximatelyFrom the, foregoing it will therefore be seen that by this inventionthere is provided a drive mechanism for a vessel utilizing a main drivengear rigidly mounted on a shaft, a pair of driving pinions which arebalanced and which mesh with said driven gear on opposite sides thereof.Further, there is provided a plurality of driving cranks connected withsaid pinions so disposed angularly to each other that all the engines towhich they are connected cannot stop on a. dead center. Further, it istobe observed that the driving means is such that the pinions willalways be maintained in positive mesh with the main drive gear to, dueto the fact that the wheel shaft 21 is prevented from axialmovement ineither direction as clearly brought out above. This is true even whenthere is a vertical movement of said wheel shaft 21 which movement,under normal conditions and according to prior constructions, would becapable of throwing the main driven gear out of mesh with its drivingpinions with resultant damage to all parts of the drive mechanism.

It is further to be observed that by tnis construction there is providedan outboard bearing at one end of the wheel shaft, which bearing is moreor less rigid with the frame work of the vessel. At the other end of thewheel shaft there is provided a second bearing which is flexiblymounted. That is to say, the bearing 26 is so constructed with thetrunnions 29, that said bearing may be free to rotate in the bracketsfor said bearing upon any vertical movement of the wheel shaft 21.Lastly, inasmuch as the intermediate drive shafts 45 and carrying thedriving pinions ll and 42, as well as the trunnions 29 are all incoaxial alignment, any vertical movement of the wheel shaft 21 wouldmerely cause the main drive gear 4-0 to revolve bodily about the drivingpinions. In other words, no matter wnat degree of vertical movementthere was to the wheel shaft 21, the main drive gear 40 would always bekept in mesh with the driving pinions 4.1 and 42. In this connection itis to be especially observed that the center line of the intermediateshafts 45 and 60 and the trunnions 29, and the center line of the wheelshaft 21 are rectangularly disposed in the same plane, and that thisrelationship is always maintained even though there is vertical movementimparted to the wheel shaft 21.

& relaxes It is obvious that those skilled may vary the details ofconstruction as well as the arrangements of parts without departing fromthe spirit of the invention, therefore, it is not desired to be limitedto the foregoing except as may be required by the claims.

What is claimed is l. In a vessel the combination of a paddle wheel; ashaft on which said wheel is mounted; an outboard bearing for one end ofsaid shaft; a main driven gear rigid with said shaft; balanced drivingmeans to rotate said gear; and means cooperating with the inboardbearing for the other end of said shaft to maintain positive drivingconnections between said driving means and said gear.

2. In a vessel the combination of a paddle wheel; a shaft on which saidwheel is mounted; an outboard bearing rigidly secured to the frameworkof the vessel for one end of said shaft; a main driven gear rigid withsaid shaft; balanced driving means to rotate said gear; and meansincluding a flexibly mounted inboard bearing to maintain positivedriving connections between said driving means and said gear.

3. In a vessel the combination of a paddle wheel; a shaft on which saidwheel is mounted; an outboard bearing for one end of said shaft; a maindriven gear rigid with said shaft; balanced coaxial driving means torotate said gear; and means to maintain positive driving connectionsbetween said driving means and said gear including an inboard bearingfor the other end of said shaft adapted for rotation about said coaxialdriving means.

l. In a vessel the combination of a paodle wheel; a shaft on Which saidwheel is mounted; a rigid outboard bearing for one end of said shaft;:1- main driven gear rigid with said shaft disposed near the other endof said shaft; means to drive said gear including a pair of pinionswhose axes are in alignment; and means to maintain positive drivingconnections between said pinions and said gear including an inboardbearing for the other end. of said shaft having an axis of rotation incoalignment with the axes of said driving )inions whereby said maindrive gear will partially revolve bodily around said pinions uponmovement of said shaft in a vertical direction.

5. In a vessel the combination of a paddle wheel; a shaft on which saidwheel is mounted; a rigid outboard bearing for one end of said shaft; 1main driven gear rigid with said shaft disposed near the other end ofsaid shaft; means to drive said gear including a pair of pinions whoseaxes are in alignment and in the same plane with the axis of said shaft;and means to maintain positive driving connections between said pinionsand said gear including an inboard bearing for the other end of saidshaft disposed between said gear and a thrust-collar rigidly secured tosaid shaft.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

CHARLES E. WARD.

